Northampton legends artworks just the ticket

Alan Carr has his portrait displayed in the Waiting Room in Wellingborough station, while Matt Smith has his portrait displayed in the First Class Lounge in Kettering station.

British artist Ed Chapman spent more than 280 hours creating the series of celebrity portraits using recycled paper train tickets from across the East Midlands.

Ed was commissioned by East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, to raise awareness of the benefits of new m-tickets.

Over 3,000 tickets were used to create the artworks, representing the average number of paper tickets East Midlands Trains sell every hour across its network.

New mobile tickets (m-Tickets) are completely paperless and can be stored on smartphones.

Lawrence Bowman, Commercial Director at East Midlands Trains said: “The ticket portraits are a fantastic way to raise awareness about m-Ticketing to our customers, as well brightening up the walls of our lounges and waiting rooms.

“We are delighted that the original artworks will be auctioned at the Railway Children’s Annual Ball in November this year, where we hope they will be well sort after and contribute towards the well worthy charity”.

Rob Capener, Marketing and Fundraising Director for The Railway Children, said: “We’re extremely grateful to East Midlands Trains for donating these amazing and highly original pieces of art.”